With the development of technology, many businesses have migrated online. There are many advantages to holding such a business, and the convenience for companies and clients has become many times greater. In order to make the purchase-sale interaction more convenient, banking and financial applications have entered the arena of financial relationships. Such applications provide the ability to conduct financial transactions remotely and quickly: transfer funds, pay bills, and take out loans. But for a product to be in demand among users, it must meet many criteria, the quality of which is verified by testing.
General information
Since banking applications are complex software in many respects, their development will require careful consideration of functionality and ensuring a high level of security. It is necessary to protect clients’ funds from cyber attacks. Because many financial transactions are carried out through banking applications daily, they must perform excellently to satisfy users.
Here are the essential aspects that need to be taken into account when creating a banking application:
- the program must provide for the generation of reporting to control the transactions carried out;
- a clear audit will be required so that problems can be eliminated;
- the application must be able to perform a large number of complex operations;
- it is essential to provide integration with other applications for paying bills;
- the application must be multifunctional to allow multiple client sessions to run simultaneously.
If all this is considered correctly, the banking application will be of high quality and satisfy users with its performance and functionality.
Problems when testing banking applications
During the development process and upon completion of the creation of such financial products, it is necessary to conduct testing services for FinTech. It provides a guarantee of the quality of the created products. Often, various problems arise during the verification process, which we will discuss below.
High level of security control
Since banking is associated with many financial resources, it is essential to provide a reliable system for protecting user funds and their data. Therefore, the verification process will need to provide a testing environment that meets a high level of security. It is also vital that the software is compatible with various operating systems (Android, iOS, Blackberry, WP8) and mobile electronic devices. The verification tools used must be supported by native and web resources.
To ensure that there are no flaws in the software, the quality control team will need to check the positive and negative aspects of the system and report them in advance so that a hack does not occur. To increase the level of security, it is vital to provide a login and password for logging into the system and consider the user’s confirmation of the access code. You must also check for compliance with regulatory security standards using automated tools HPWebInspect and IBM AppScan. For manual checking, use Proxy Sniffer and HTTP Watch.
Difficulty in ensuring data security
Software developers cannot provide a 100% guarantee that the database will not be subject to unauthorized hacking or malware. Therefore, to perform the verification, testers need to provide account information that will be required during the testing process. The bank needs to provide an automated tool that will regularly check the connection in the database and logical functionality. It will require using a VPN for security.
Provide device support
More than 82% of people use banking apps. Software developers must constantly introduce new functionality to ensure the application’s usability. In addition, developers need to continually adapt their products to function adequately on new electronic devices.
Privacy for users
For banking applications, privacy is paramount. This aspect is responsible for the level of security of its use. In this case, you must conduct automated checks for each software update. Therefore, you must provide automatic tools for online banking that run special tests. It will free testers from the need for manual checks.
Online updates
Banking applications must be updated in real-time. And this is a rather labor-intensive task, given the difficulties with connection systems.
Ensuring correct development and validation tests
No one is immune from various errors in the software creation process. Therefore, a functional testing system must be provided and proper managing offshore teams if any, must be built. Detailed verification will be required when testing each section and program to develop high-quality products with a high level of security and the necessary functionality.
Meeting market demand
Consumer needs and market requirements are systematically changing. Therefore, all functionality and ease of use require constant updating.
Performance issues
Performance categories include connectivity, infrastructure, and backend integration. Financial transactions through a banking application must be systematically monitored after a specific time. You will also need to perform load and stress testing constantly. It is necessary so that the developed application can carry out many transactions simultaneously.
Best practices
Here are some best practices to overcome the challenges of testing online banking applications:
- availability of a transparent methodology for checking the performance of the developed program;
- verification tests that will cover the entire development workflow;
- checking functionality, performance, and safety;
- Checked products for UX/UI, database integrity, and user support.
If you use best practices in testing, you will be more guaranteed to create high-quality software.
Verifying a banking application is a complex and time-consuming process with many aspects to consider. But during the development and testing, you choose the right strategy and consider important points (confidentiality and security). In that case, the created application will have a long-term perspective due to its popularity among users.
